What I'm up to now

I’m realizing now that my last update was from early fall, 2024. An update was long overdue, so here it is!

Hobbies

I started attending a Greenhouse Gardening course taught by VGN, a non-profit that educates, supports and connects gardeners. I’m learning a lot about seeds, the lifecycle of plants, the particular needs and differences when planting and re-potting plants from this or that family, planning a garden, building raised beds and much more… Gardening demands a curious, intense engagement with the calendar, and the need to do things based on the next and last frost. There is such a thing as gardener’s time.

Taking this gardening course feels random. An disjointed one-off that may or may not lead to a deeper dive into this brown and green world. In actuality, it is decidedly part of a renewed interest with the tactile, physical world that was reenergized by my taking a pottery class last fall, and moving into a home of our own, full of house projects falling somewhere between duty and desire. I foresee this trend continuing in the future, and exerting a stronger pull. And I, too, wonder: what material will I be playing with next?

Biking! Early Spring is very much in session, with its sudden, abrupt swings in temperature. One sunny day in the 60’s, followed by a windy, dark day in the low 30’s. The days are longer, and so are the rides. I get to choose between riding on a beautiful bike path straddling a beautiful lake, or riding through the town’s paved roads to get to hilly, picturesque dirt roads. I can also commute to work on said bike path, and have jerry-rigged my own back-rack + milk crate + bungee chord + zip tie contraption to carry my work bag burdened with a heavy laptop. I feel very lucky to be able to bike to work.

Reading

• Underland, by Robert McFarlane
• James, by Percival Everett
• Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir

Practicing

One of my most consistent practices in the last couple of months is the exercise of tiny actions. I too often dismiss tiny actions as silly and inconsequential. After all, what is the point of sitting down every evening to write one short sentence about my day? Immediately, the result is about as far as you could possible get from notions of “success”, “life-changing”, “making a dent in the Universe”.

Each tiny action, in and of itself, is just that: small and mundane and powerless. But when done intentionally, purposefully, and with a conscious decision to let go of the need to lead to a specific outcome, something starts to open up…a subtle and powerful shift in my disposition towards life and my own agency.

It’s true that putting in the reps does not guarantee a desired outcome. Not anymore, at least, as we all slowly catch on to the fact that luck plays an outsized role in determining the results of our efforts. So I take tiny actions as if they are small bets. Known downside, unknown upside, and some degree of acquaintance with probability and luck.

Some tiny actions I’ve taken recently include: sending an email with an ask to a successful entrepreneur, asking someone at a cafe about their dumbphone , saying yes to a concert invite (the band was surprising and awesome!), having a couple of video calls with people I hadn’t met who also work in my same professional field…